Trying Hard not to Kiss You
by christycakes
Summary: This is a Zanessa story that takes place right before High School Musical 1 started filming. It is a short story but I like it. I have taken a few familiar things from different movies that I like and have incorporated them with this story.


**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, except for the plot.**

* * *

Zac Efron buried his hands deep into his pockets. It was summer but the weather was unusually chilly. Or maybe it was just cause he was nervous.

He took a step into the building that held the set. It was amazing. It looked just like a real high school. He noticed all the details that were put into it. He smiled.

"Excuse me, are you Zachary Efron?"

He turned around to face a familiar man. _That's the guy that was judging my audition, wasn't it?_ he thought to himself.

"Yes sir." he replied.

"I'm Kenny Ortega," the man shook Zac's hand as he introduced himself. Zac instantly recognized him as the director of the movie.

"You're a little early," Kenny continued. "The rest of the cast isn't supposed to be here until 3."

Zac glanced at his watch. It was 2:30 .

"That's ok – I'll just walk around." With that he began to explore the set, waiting for the others.

* * *

"Ashley, wait up!" a curly-haired brunette giggled as she tried to catch up with her friend. 

"Hey, it's not my fault you're slow!" the blonde replied.

They both laughed as they entered the building, greeted by the other cast members.

Ashley ran up to everyone and started shaking hands. But, the brunette, who was more reserved, searched her eyes through the room. She found who she was looking for and ran up to him.

"Hey Zac!" she smiled.

Zac smiled when he saw the girl he had been paired up with in auditions. "Hey Vanessa. Fancy seeing you here,"

She giggled a sweet giggle that he loved listening to. The two began to engage in a conversation. Little did they know that two jealous eyes gazed upon them from afar.

* * *

"There's nothing good on TV," Ashley whined, dropping the remote. She and Vanessa had went to the latter's hotel room after the first cast meeting. 

"Then make yourself useful and help me turn on the shower!" Vanessa screamed. She had been struggling with the shower for nearly an hour.

_Retard. _Ashley concluded under her breath but went to the bathroom anyway. She as well tried to tug the shower knob but it wouldn't budge. After calling the front desk and having a repair man come up to check on the shower, it still didn't work.

"I'm sorry ma'am but you're going to have to borrow someone else's shower."

"Oh great," Vanessa muttered. By then, Ashley had left. So, she turned to her only other option.

* * *

Zac surfed through channels on the television when the phone rang. He picked it up. 

"Zac Efron speaking," he said, grinning.

_silence_

"Oh hey, Nessa. What's up?"

_silence_

"Sure but, what's wrong with yours?"

_silence_

He chuckled. "Haha. Of course you can."

He hung up the phone and 5 seconds later, the brunette was at his door.

"Thank you SOOO much for this Zac. You have no idea how much I appreciate it." she smiled.

"No problem," he said and led her to his bathroom.

* * *

The next day was the first day of learning the dances. Or, 'boot camp' as Zac called it. After the dances, they had a break. Zac took a swig from his water bottle and jogged on over to Vanessa and Ashley. He was almost there when suddenly, a figure got in his way. 

"Monique!" he practically yelled. "You scared the crud outta me!"

"Sorry," she playfully said. "But, I've been wanting to talk to you about something important."

"What?" Zac asked, looking concerned.

"You know that Vanessa chick?"

He nodded.

"Well, she was bad-mouthing you yesterday. I heard her tell Ashley how much you sucked at singing and dancing. And, she said your acting, was the worst!"

Zac gaped. He felt as if he had just been punched in the stomach. Monique almost felt sorry and confessed about the lie. Almost.

"Thanks for telling me," he mumbled. Then Corbin walked up to him.

"Sup, dude?" Zac didn't answer. "Dude, you looked like you've just been slapped in the face. Something wrong?"

Zac opened his mouth to speak when—

"Great job people," Kenny announced over the intercom. "You can all go home and rest. Except for Zac and Nessa. I need to work on some scenes with you."

"I gotta go," Zac said and ran off.

* * *

"Now," Kenny directed. "Hold her hand like this." He motioned to Zac how he should hold Vanessa's hand. But, that was the last thing Zac wanted to do. "Got it?" 

Zac nodded.

"All right, hit it." Kenny told the piano player as he began to play.

"We're soaring, flying. There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach." Zac sang.

"If we're trying, so we're breakin –"

"Cut!" Kenny yelled. The piano player stopped.

"I'm not feeling the chemistry here. Where's that couple that aced the auditions every single time? I miss that couple!"

"Well, maybe someone should try harder," Zac mumbled. Kenny didn't hear but Vanessa heard perfectly.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"You're excused." he retorted. The fight would've continued if the music hadn't started again. Vanessa put her hand in Zac's. She felt it was unwanted.

"We're soaring, flying. There's not a star in heaven that we can't re—"

"CUT!!" Kenny yelled. Zac's instantly dropped Vanessa's hand.

"What happened to you guys?" Kenny interrogated. "Yesterday, you guys were great together. Now you look like you wanna claw each other out. Are you guys in a fight or something?"

"I'm sorry Kenny," Vanessa said, tears filling her eyes. She ran out of the room. For a moment, Zac's anger left him and he followed her.

She turned around when she heard him. "Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that!?"

The anger returned and fury was seen in his eyes. "Talking to YOU like that!? What about what YOU said about ME?"

Vanessa rubbed her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about," she protested.

"Sure you do," he began.

"NO I DON'T!"

They started to fight until Kenny ran out to them. They stood for a while in silence.

"I'm sorry Kenny," Vanessa said again, her voice cracking.

"Oh sweetie, you're losing your voice," he went up to Vanessa and rubbed her back. "Why don't you go to the hotel and get some rest. Don't use your voice 'till tomorrow. We need that beautiful voice if we're gonna make a movie."

Vanessa smiled and nodded. With one last glare at Zac, she turned around to head to the hotel.

Zac followed her with his eyes and when she left, he looked at Kenny.

"And you young man," Kenny began. "You and I need to have a talk."

* * *

Vanessa sat in her hotel room, staring at random objects in it. There was nothing interesting on TV and her laptop had stopped working last night. 

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten it at _Best Buy_," she began, then quickly stopped, remembering Kenny's words. Her voice had been cracking here and there since last week. And today when she yelled at Zac, she totally lost it.

She sighed remembering the fight. What was he talking about when he said she was talking about him? Sure she thought of him often but she rarely talked about him.

She stood up. For a moment, after the auditions, she had actually thought he was different. Unlike other guys she knew, he seemed kind and considerate. But he wasn't. _Oh well._ she thought.

* * *

"…and I don't care what she says about you, you have got to pull yourself together and be responsible here! We have a movie to make!!" 

Zac sighed and nodded.

"Now, I want you to go to her hotel room and check on her,"

"But –" Zac protested.

"No ifs, ands, or buts!" Kenny said.

"It's obvious she's faking it," Zac muttered. Kenny gave him a look and he froze. "All right, Kenny. I'll check on her."

* * *

Vanessa opened up the microwave. The popcorn was ready. She put it into a plastic bowl and went to the television planning to watch a DVD and then go to bed. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. 

_Who could that be?_ she wondered. Ashley had gone to bed early so…who was it?

She opened the door only to be faced by a scowling frown.

"Look," Zac began. "I don't wanna be here as much as you want me to. But, Kenny sent me here to check up on you."

She grimaced at him and walked back to the kitchen. He let himself in and closed the door. The smell of popcorn attracted him to where she was.

"I thought sick people didn't have appetites," he said, staring at the bowl full of popcorn.

She opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it. Instead, she fished around for a notepad and a pen. She wrote something and gave it to him. He read it.

**I thought stupid people weren't supposed to ask questions.**

He chuckled a bit, but it was a bitter chuckle. She grabbed the popcorn and walked to the living room. He followed.

"So," he said, noticing the pile of DVD's on the floor. "What movie are you watching?" She gave him the case. _The Notebook._ He hated that movie. Far too lovey-dovey for him.

"Well, I guess I better be going then." Vanessa gratefully nodded.

Then, Zac's phone began to ring. He picked it up.

"Zac Efron speaking," he said with a smile. The smile turned into a frown. It was Kenny.

"Yes I'm here,"

silence

"Yeah, she's fine,"

silence

"But, she's perfectly fine without me!"

silence

He sighed. "All right, I'll stay for a few more minutes."

silence

"Ok, ok. I'll stay for a few more hours."

silence

"All right, bye Kenny." He hung up the phone.

Vanessa looked up at him expectantly.

"Kenny wants me to stay here for a few hours so we can 'work out our differences'."

Vanessa frowned. She got the pad and scribbled something on it.

**Well, I'm watching the movie. You can too if you want..**

He shrugged. He could leave. They could tell Kenny that he 'stayed there for a few more hours' when really he left earlier. But, he really didn't want to.

He sat next to her on the couch.

* * *

They started to watch the movie. It was pretty boring for Zac but Vanessa was fascinated with it. He stared at her intently. Her excitement made him laugh. She looked at him. 

**What are you staring at?**

"You," was all he said. She blushed.

He looked down at his hands. Maybe Monique misheard. Maybe Vanessa didn't say any of those things at all. Maybe she really did like his singing, dancing and acting. Maybe.

There was only one way to find out.

"So, what's so bad about my acting?" he started.

She looked at him questionably.

**What are you talking about? Your acting is great.**

"Then why did you tell Ashley that it sucked?"

Vanessa gasped.

**Zac I would never say that about you. You know that!**

She was right. He did know that. Vanessa was far too sympathetic to say something like that. About anyone!

"I guess you're right," he said.

**I'm always right.**

He chuckled. "Of course you are."

* * *

The movie was nearing to the end. Zac was now watching it. He and Vanessa giggled at random things, and then giggled at each other. It was a perfect night. They had both forgotten about the fight. 

Suddenly, Rachel McAdams gave Ryan Gosling a passionate kiss. Vanessa stared at it and sighed dreamily. Zac stared at her. Then, he gently took the notepad from her and wrote something on it. She looked at it.

**I'm really trying hard not to kiss you right now.**

Vanessa read it and was speechless for a moment. Then she took the pad from him and wrote back.

**Well do it already - I've been waiting forever.**

He chuckled. Then, he leaned in and kissed her.

* * *

The next day Vanessa's voice was much better. She appeared on set looking brighter and prettier than ever. She and Zac did the "Breaking Free" scene without any trouble. Then, they hung out together during the breaks. Kenny watched them and chuckled to himself. "That's the Zac and Nessa I know," 

**_I know, it sucked. I kinda wrote it down in like 5 minutes cause of an idea that came to me from Because I Said So. Great movie, I recommend it. Same with the Notebook. Also, just to let you know, I have absolutely nothing against Monique Coleman. Actually, I love her – she's like my favorite actress from HSM. But, I needed someone to play the jealous villain in the story. SORRY!! Hope you kinda liked it. R&R please!_**


End file.
